Ukraine continued to receive military aid from the US, but there was no discussion yet about new packages, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Wednesday.
Britain’s foreign minister, David Lammy, in a visit to Ukraine on Wednesday, announced a further £55-million in financial support to help put it in the “strongest position possible”.
Ukraine accused Russian spies of orchestrating multiple bomb attacks on its draft offices, as officials reported a new explosion on Wednesday that killed one person and hurt four more at a conscription centre in the west of the country.
US military aid not cut, but no talks on new packages yet - Zelensky
Ukraine continued to receive military aid from the US, but there was no discussion currently about any prospective packages, said President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday.
“There’s no reduction in US support today. It is not stopped, it continues,” he told reporters in Kyiv.
Washington has been one of the biggest suppliers of military aid to Kyiv since the start of the Russian full-scale invasion almost three years ago.
But re-elected President Donald Trump has regularly criticised the extent of US help provided to Kyiv. Reuters sources said that US shipments of weapons into Ukraine were briefly paused recently before resuming over the last weekend.
Zelensky said it was “too early” for discussion on new batches of military assistance to take place.
Asked about Ukraine’s ability to fight without US aid, Zelensky said cutting supplies would hit hard on the country’s defence capabilities.
“We will be weaker, and whether we would hold [the land] — I’m not sure,” he added.
UK’s foreign minister visits Kyiv, announces further financial support
Britain’s foreign minister, David Lammy, in a visit to Ukraine on Wednesday, announced a further £55-million in financial support to help put it in the “strongest position possible”.
During his visit, the second since he became foreign minister last year, Lammy met Zelensky and other government figures to discuss how Britain and international partners could continue to support Ukraine.
“Our support for Ukraine remains unbreakable,” said Lammy. “We are determined to put Ukraine in the strongest possible position, both in its fight against Russia and beyond.”
The foreign office said Britain would provide £3-million for deliveries of Ukrainian grain and other food produce to Syria, with whom Ukraine wants to restore relations after the ouster of Bashar al-Assad, a close Russian ally.
Ukraine, a global producer and exporter of grain and oilseeds, sent its first batch of food aid to Syria in December.
As part of the new financial package, £17-million will go to innovative energy projects, £10-million to help the recovery of Ukrainian businesses and £25-million to support family and community-based services, said the foreign office.
Britain has committed £977-million in support to Ukraine and the region since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of the country in February 2022. It has also committed to provide £3-billion of annual military support for as long as it is needed.
Ukraine accuses Russia of staging bomb attacks on its draft offices
Ukraine accused Russian spies of orchestrating multiple bomb attacks on its draft offices, as officials reported a new explosion on Wednesday that killed one person and hurt four more at a conscription centre in the west of the country.
The explosion in the Khmelnytskyi region was the latest in a series of incidents involving draft offices and conscription officers. One such officer was shot dead at a petrol station last week.
“We ... understand this is a deliberate attack by Russian special services that aims to create a false opinion in society, destabilise the situation and create a negative attitude towards the security and defence forces,” said national police chief Ivan Vyhivskyi.
He did not provide evidence of Russian involvement, though such information is generally withheld for security reasons.
In Wednesday’s incident, a man approached a checkpoint at a draft office in the Khmelnytskyi region, clutching a bag and asking to hand over a package, Vyhivskyi said. An explosion then occurred, killing the man and wounding four others, he added.
Vyhivskyi said there had already been nine attacks organised by Russia this year, including three targeting police officers. He did not elaborate on the individual cases and what they had involved.
He said Russian intelligence officers were recruiting young men or people of “low social responsibility” to stage the attacks in return for money.
“The Russians in most cases do not pay the money to these people. Moreover, these last two cases — including today’s — indicate they liquidate the people they recruit,” said Vyhivskyi.
In a similar case last Saturday a young man was blown up by an explosive device he had brought into a draft office in the northwestern city of Rivne, said Ukraine’s SBU domestic security agency in a statement on Wednesday.
The SBU said Russian spies had recruited the man and Russian security officers detonated the device remotely after he had entered the draft office. Eight Ukrainian servicemen were wounded in the blast, it said.
Ukraine says it has potential to buy and store LNG from US
Ukraine and other European nations had the potential to buy and store liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the US in Ukraine and this could strengthen Europe’s energy security as gas transits from Russia end, its foreign minister said on Wednesday.
Ukraine, which was invaded by Moscow three years ago, was once a major pipeline transit route for Russian gas until the beginning of this year, when the transit deal between the two countries expired.
It also has large underground gas storages, particularly in the west of the country.
“We see a huge potential, especially after the termination of the transit of Russian gas through the territory of Ukraine, in the possibility of purchasing LNG gas from the United States of America,” said Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha at a joint press conference with his British counterpart David Lammy.
In response to a Reuters question after the event, a ministry spokesperson clarified this meant that Ukraine could buy US LNG and store it, as well as storing LNG belonging to other European countries.
“You know that Ukraine has extremely powerful underground gas storage facilities, and here, too, we have common ground for mutually beneficial cooperation, while strengthening Europe’s energy security,” said Sybiha.
Sybiha also invited US businesses to participate in reconstruction and help Ukraine rebuild after the damage and devastation caused by nearly three years of war.
Ukraine brings back 150 POWs in latest swap with Russia
Ukraine had brought back 150 troops from Russian captivity, Zelensky said on Wednesday, announcing the latest prisoner swap with Russia.
“All of them are from different sectors of the front... Some of the boys were held captive for more than two years,” he said on the Telegram messaging app.
Ukraine MPs expected to vote next week on law needed for two new nuclear units
Ukraine’s parliament is expected to vote next week on a law needed to build and start up two new nuclear power units, an industry source told Reuters on Wednesday, in a step that would support the country as its energy system comes under frequent Russian missile attacks.
The new reactors will be built at the Khmelnytskyi nuclear power plant in western Ukraine and equipped with Russian-designed equipment that Kyiv wants to import from Bulgaria, Ukrainian energy officials have said.
Ukraine had planned last June to sign a deal to buy two nuclear reactor bodies from Bulgaria to compensate for the loss of the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant with six reactors but was unable to do so due to the lack of a law paving the way for such a step.
The new law has been opposed by a number of legislators who have argued that calculations of the construction costs in the context of the war with Russia were not transparent.
Zelensky on Tuesday urged parliament to support the law, calling the project to complete the power units “the key to Ukraine’s energy independence and the energy stability of the region”.
Since the loss of Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine relies on nuclear power from three operating power plants in the country, totalling nine reactors, including two currently in operation at the Khmelnytskyi plant. Electricity from nuclear power plants covers about 60% of the country’s power needs.
Ukraine’s military to roll out units of robotic vehicles
Ukraine’s military would create robotic vehicle units to deploy at the front, said the defence minister on Wednesday, as Kyiv and Moscow vie to gain a technological advantage over their enemy after nearly three years of vicious fighting.
The ministry published a photograph of a robotic vehicle with a gun mounted on it as it made the announcement on the Telegram messenger. Unmanned vehicles — in particular aerial ones — have become a key type of weapon in the war since Russia invaded in 2022.
With both sides deploying tens of thousands of drones each month in the air, a race is now on to replace as many soldiers on the ground as possible with Unmanned Ground Vehicles (UGVs), say officials, with Ukrainian manpower reserves running short.
“The Ministry of Defence is launching a project that will scale up the use of unmanned ground systems in the military,” said Defence Minister Rustem Umerov.
He said robot vehicles would be used for offence, defence, logistics, evacuating casualties and laying or clearing mines. DM